Supreme Court upholds ban on abortion

WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court’s conservative majority upheld a nationwide ban on a contentious abortion procedure in a decision that sets the stage for additional restrictions on a woman’s right to abort a pregnancy.

For the first time since the court established a woman’s right to an abortion in 1973, the justices said the Constitution permits a nationwide prohibition on a specific abortion method. The court’s liberal justices, in dissent, said the ruling chips away at abortion rights.The 5-4 decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President George W Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.Siding with Kennedy were Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.Unlike in many developed countries, where abortion is considered a medical procedure beyond the reach of politics, it remains among the most politically sensitive subjects in the United States.The court ruled that the contested law is constitutional even though it does not contain an exception to allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman’s health, Kennedy said.”The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice,” he wrote in the majority opinion.Doctors who violate the law face up to two years in federal prison.The law has never taken effect, pending the outcome of the legal fight.Kennedy’s opinion was a long-awaited resounding win that abortion opponents had expected from the more conservative bench created by Bush.In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the ruling “cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court.”The administration defended the law as drawing a bright line between abortion and infanticide.Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the ‘sanctity of life’.”I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that prohibits the abhorrent procedure of partial birth abortion,” he said.”Today’s decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America.”It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how, not whether, to perform an abortion.Nampa-APThe court’s liberal justices, in dissent, said the ruling chips away at abortion rights.The 5-4 decision, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President George W Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.Siding with Kennedy were Bush’s two appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, along with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.Unlike in many developed countries, where abortion is considered a medical procedure beyond the reach of politics, it remains among the most politically sensitive subjects in the United States.The court ruled that the contested law is constitutional even though it does not contain an exception to allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman’s health, Kennedy said.”The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice,” he wrote in the majority opinion.Doctors who violate the law face up to two years in federal prison.The law has never taken effect, pending the outcome of the legal fight.Kennedy’s opinion was a long-awaited resounding win that abortion opponents had expected from the more conservative bench created by Bush.In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the ruling “cannot be understood as anything other than an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court.”The administration defended the law as drawing a bright line between abortion and infanticide.Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the ‘sanctity of life’.”I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that prohibits the abhorrent procedure of partial birth abortion,” he said.”Today’s decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America.”It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how, not whether, to perform an abortion.Nampa-AP